An Indian wedding involves many rituals and ceremonies over multiple days that bring the families together and bless the married couple. Some key events include exchanging garlands and rings, mehndi application where henna designs are applied to the bride's hands, a haldi ceremony where turmeric paste is applied for purification, the marriage procession where the groom arrives on horseback accompanied by family and friends, sacred fire ceremonies where the couple walks around a fire seven times taking vows, and concluding rituals where the groom applies sindoor to the bride's hair and places a mangalsutra necklace on her.

1. Indian Wedding
It’s more than a wedding..

2. • A Puja (prayer) done by the couple and their parents welcoming
Gods in different forms and asking for their blessing.
• Exchange garland and gold rings
• The rings are worn on the fourth finger of the right hand for the
groom and on the left hand for the bride because it is believed
that the fourth finger of the hand has a vein leading directly to the
heart. This produces one complete heart.
• Gifts are exchanged, strengthens the bond between families, lunch
or dinner served, usually wedding date is set
Engagement Ceremony

3. • The sangeet (entertainment) night where songs from popular Hindi
films are sang and where people dance.
• Families and friends eat, drink, and dance the night away.
• Another chance for the bride and groom to get to know the families
Sangeet

4. Two or three days before:
• A canopy decorated with flowers is erected at the place of the
wedding.
• A ritual called Pithi is performed on both the bride and the
groom in their own homes.
• Their bodies are anointed with turmeric, sandalwood paste and
oils to cleanse and make it sweet-smelling.
• They are then bathed to the chanting of Vedic mantras.
Haldi Ceremony

5. • Held in the late afternoon, usually day before wedding.
• Ladies tea-party, but the male relatives are allowed to be present.
• The future bride has her hands and feet patterned with paste
which is a recipe of henna, oil, lemon juice, and some water
tinted with tea.
• Signifies the strength of love in a marriage
• The darker the mehndi, the stronger the love.
Mehendi

6. • The bridegroom accompanied by baratis (relatives and
friends) proceed to the wedding venue (usually the bride’s
house) singing and dancing.
• The band plays music with sparkling fireworks in the sky.
• The bride’s family and friends receive the baratis and
bridegroom, who is riding on a decorated Ghodi (mare).
The Marriage Performance

7. • When the groom and his party arrive at the marriage hall, the
bride's relatives are waiting to welcome them.
• The mother of the bride welcomes the groom by placing a
Teeka (red dot) on his forehead.
• She then performs several small ceremonies reminding him of
his commitment to the marriage and that he has willingly
chosen to wed her daughter.
Swagatam

8. • The priest commences the marriage under a canopy
(mandap) that is specially decorated for the ceremony.
• The priest invokes blessings of God for the couple to be
married by chanting madras from the Vedas.
• The bride offers yogurt and honey to the groom as a token of
purity and sweetness. The bride greets the groom by placing
garland around his neck, and the groom does the same.
Mandap

9. • The bride accepts her change of status from an unmarried woman
to a wife by spreading turmeric powder on her hands.
• Kanyadan is performed by the father (or uncle or guardian) of the
bride. The father pours out a libation of sacred water symbolizing
the giving away of the daughter to the bridegroom.
• The bride’s parents entrust their daughter in the safe keeping of
the groom and his family.
Kanyadan

10. • The bride and the bridegroom face each other, and the priest
ties their garments (the bride's sari to the groom's shirt) in a
knot, symbolizing the sacred union.
• The bride and the groom exchange the rings.
• AGNI PUJA
• Next the nuptial fire, symbolizing the divine witness and the
sanctifier of the sacrament, is installed and worshipped.
• It is believed that Gods and Goddesses sit around this fire.
• Herbs, sugar, rice, ghee (clarified butter), and twigs are offered
into the sacred fire to seek God's blessings for the couple.
Tying the Knot

11. Here the bride and the bridegroom take seven steps together
around the nuptial fire (Agni) and make the following seven
promises to each other :
With God as our guide, let us take :
the first step to nourish each other
the second step to grow together in strength
the third step to preserve our wealth
the fourth step to share our joys and sorrows
the fifth step to care for our children
the sixth step to be together forever
the seventh step to remain lifelong friends,
the perfect halves to make a perfect whole.
• After the seventh step the groom makes the bride remain where she is and
says:
• "With seven steps we become friends. Let me reach your friendship. Let me
not be severed from your friendship. Let your friendship not be severed from
me."
• The Satapadi ceremony concludes with a prayer that the union is
indissoluble. At the end of this ceremony, the bridegroom and bride become
husband and wife.
Saptapadi (Seven Steps)

12. • The Mangalsutra is a gold chain with black beads marking symbols
of Vishnu or Shiva placed on the neck of the bride by the groom.
• This mangalsutra is worn by the bride post marriage to symbolize
she is married to her husband and to bring good luck.
Mangalsutra Dharana

13. The groom places sindoor (red powder) on the bride's hair
symbolizing that she is a married woman.
Sindooran

14. https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=MTpQbFOe2dE